MWC Rankings: No. 7 LB Derek Largent

OLB Derek Largent will shine for the Aztecs in 2013

SDSU's Derek Largent loses his helmet while tackling North Dakota's Jameer Jackson in the 4th quarter during SDSU's football game against North Dakota at Qualcomm Stadium Saturday night.
— Earnie Grafton

SDSU's Derek Largent loses his helmet while tackling North Dakota's Jameer Jackson in the 4th quarter during SDSU's football game against North Dakota at Qualcomm Stadium Saturday night.
— Earnie Grafton

With a month to go before fall camp begins for college football teams all over the country, we'll begin a weekly series where we rank the top seven athletes at every position in the Mountain West conference. We'll start ranking two new positions every week, with posts appearing every morning and every afternoon.

The schedule is as follows:

MWC Watch

July 6-12: Tight ends and linebackers

July 13-19: Running backs and defensive ends

July 20-26: Wide receivers and defensive backs

July 27-August 2: Quarterbacks and coaches

Here's our pick for the seventh-best linebacker in the Mountain West Conference.

MWC Watch: No. 7 Linebacker

Derek Largent

(San Diego State, Junior, 6-foot-4, 235 pounds)

Even San Diego State coach Rocky Long never expected junior college transfer Derek Largent to make the kind of earth-shattering impact he did last fall.

After playing one season at El Camino Community College, Largent started on the bench for the Aztecs, but finished as a starter at outside linebacker, where he totaled 6.5 sacks – second only to SDSU’s All-Mountain West first team selection Jake Fely.

His 61 tackles were good for fourth on the team’s defensive stat sheet, and he also managed 9.5 tackles for loss, two picks, three pass breakups and three fumble recoveries.

People have taken notice.

Largent was an All-Mountain West Honorable Mention selection at the end of 2012, and he’ll start 2013 on Athlon’s All-Mountain West second team.

With his nose for the football and knack for getting to the quarterback, watch for Largent to make waves this year.